(29 Sep 1996) Spanish/Nat
A new museum has opened in the Peruvian capital, Lima, which will enable visitors to take a trip back through the centuries.
Located in the San Francisco convent - one of the jewels in Peru's religious architectural heritage - the museum is a showcase of ancient treasures dating back to the seventeenth century.
The San Francisco Convent in Lima is one of the jewels in the crown of Peru's religious architectural heritage.
The original building dates back to the late sixteenth century.
It was destroyed in an earthquake soon after it was built but one hundred years later it was restored to its former glory.
For four centuries this ancient church has been one of the most distinctive landmarks in the capital's city centre.
Part of it - the catacombs - have now been turned into a museum where visitors can enjoy a host of treasures dating back to seventeenth-century colonial times.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
(Translation) "Catacombs became semi-public cemeteries. Before Peru declared independence, Christians were buried in churches and convents. The devotees of St. Francis of Assisi were buried here. This church allowed the burial of any person in its catacombs".
SUPER CAPTION: Father Anselmo Diaz Rodriguez, Museum Director
There were no conventional cemeteries in Lima before Peru declared independence from Spain in the early nineteenth century.
Instead in keeping with Spanish religious tradition, the dead were buried in crypts built into church basements or catacombs.
Wealthy Peruvian families owned their own crypts, like this one which belonged to the Velasco Esquivel family.
But the ordinary man in the street could not afford such a luxurious resting place.
The majority of people were buried in common pits or wells several feet deep and covered with quicklime to eradicate bad odours and prevent potential epidemic outbreaks.
Overcrowding was always a problem and bones were laid out geometrically to get the most out of the limited space available.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
(Translation) "We don't know the exact number. But we figure that there are between 30 and 50,000 people buried here.
SUPER CAPTION: Father Anselmo Diaz Rodriguez, Museum Director
In Lima's colonial days there were around a dozen burial sites scattered throughout the city - all of them in convents and churches.
The bodies of the poor were carried to their burial ground in humble stretchers - those who could afford it made their final journey in style in chariots such as this one, now on display in the newly-opened museum.
Once Peru gained independence from its Spanish colonial masters this custom was discontinued - and the first conventional outdoor cemeteries were built.
Visitors to the catacombs in the San Francisco Convent can now take an altogether more pleasant trip through Peru's ancient religious sites, safe in the knowledge that they won't meet be sharing the same final resting place as their ancestors.
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